LONDON (Reuters) - You can't buy happiness but it looks
like you can at least inherit it, British and Australian
researchers said on Thursday.

A study of nearly 1,000 pairs of identical and
non-identical twins found genes control half the personality
traits that make people happy while factors such as
relationships, health and careers are responsible for the rest
of our well-being.

"We found that around half the differences in happiness
were genetic," said Tim Bates, a researcher at the University
of Edinburgh who led the study. "It is really quite
surprising."

The researchers asked the volunteers -- ranging in age from
25 to 75 -- a series of questions about their personality, how
much they worried and how satisfied they were with their lives.

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Because identical twins share the same genes and fraternal
twins do not, the researchers could identify common genes that
result in certain personality traits and predispose people to
happiness.

People who are sociable, active, stable, hardworking and
conscientious tend to be happier, the researchers reported in
the journal Psychological Science.

"What this study showed was that the identical twins in a
family were very similar in personality and in well-being, and
by contrast, the fraternal twins were only around half as
similar," Bates said. "That strongly implicates genes."

The findings are an important piece of the puzzle for
researchers trying to better understand depression and what
makes different people happy or unhappy, Bates said.

People with positive inherited personality traits may, in
effect, also have a reserve of happiness to draw on in
stressful times, he said.

"An important implication is that personality traits of
being outgoing, calm and reliable provide a resource, we called
it 'affective reserve,' that drives future happiness" Bates
said.